Arran Smuggler Series The Illicit Stills Vol. 1

I did it backwards. I finally completed the tasting of the whole Arran Smuggler's series collection, and i can truly say that they are not only one of the finest looking bottles (with the whole book box) ever, but also they are impressive whiskies. The first one i tried, was their third release, the "Exciseman", which was a fantastic single malt. The second one, was of course "The High Seas", which was even better, something truly hard to achieve. I had big hopes for their first release, "The Illicit Stills", since Arran has never made something wrong, and this collection has proven in the past to be outstanding. Bottled at 56.2%abv, Golden color. On the nose, i got chocolate, the Arran typical pineapple note, caramel flan and a tropical punch. It also gave me white chocolate and some "suspiros" which i have no idea who to translate it to the english language. On the palate, it was beautiful. Delicious. White glazed donut, pineapple, super tropical notes. White chocolate, hazelnuts, almonds. Sweet magic. Aftertaste was pleasantly spicy. A hint of smoke is also present. Hay, salty, tongue scorching in a lovely way. Overall, this is a wonderful whisky but... the other two were a lot better. Actually, it feels less complex although it mantains its excelent flavors. The nose was a little simple and not too powerful. Having said that, this is a great single malt, that i would have any day, and i would definitively buy again (if it wasn't so expensive). My score for this dram is a solid 91 over 100.

My favorite in the series and proof that Arran can do wonderful things with peat. The nose is full of stewed stone fruits, clean cotton, and old dry hardwood. The palate is defined by its spiciness, white and black pepper hit you right away. Hiding further back is creamy oak and ripe berries. The finish is long and lingering with a fruity jam enriched with spicy chili pepper.